BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Fashion Jewelry CZ, Zircon, created diamond. Are they different?

Hello everyone.
Browsing through Ebay listings I noticed how many sellers use people unawareness of some gemstone fundamentals. I found this forum to be a good place to share my knowledge.
There was one successful seller skillfully manipulating these terms.
So, what's the difference between Cubic Zirconia (CZ), Zircon and created or synthetic diamond? CZ is zirconium oxide (ZrO2), a mineral that is extremely rare in nature but is widely synthesized for use as a diamond simulant. The one that is used for most of jewelry is laboratory-grown simulant.
Zircon is a beautiful natural gemstone, which is not the same as CZ. Please visit http://www.answers.com/topic/zircon for more information.
The guy at Ebay used the term "created diamond" instead of CZ. That made him much more successful than any other seller offering the same products. 'Diamond' definetely sounds better than 'CZ' <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Thanks for reading. I hope this will be helpfull for sombody.

Thank you for the great information!

eBay itself is starting to come under more fire lately for refusing to take responsibility when some sellers are misleading about what they're selling. I'm planning a new article about some of the complaints folks are having and how buyers can watch out for them.

Regarding CZ, my understanding is that it is not any kind of "created diamond" and in my opinion that statement is intentionally misleading. CZ is actually very beautiful, highly reflective, and is used not only as a diamond "substitute" but also in sparkly faceted colored beads now - and they're gorgeous!

Thank you again for posting this information, because we do need to get the word out about these problems on eBay - especially since we can't rely on eBay to regulate its listings.

Chris

No, no, probably I wasn't clear. That guy didn't cheat at all. CZ is a created diamond, it is a laboratory-grown simulant. It is a beautiful, highly reflective stone, as you say. But most of the people don't know that. They see CZ jewelry and don't know what CZ really is. The guy just manipulated the terms. 'Diamond' even 'created diamond' sounds better than CZ. He was much more succesfull than his competitors selling the same items. There are also different qualities of created diamonds, but that's a different story.

About eBay.. eBay can be a good place to sell, it can be a good place to buy, if you use your common sense. It was created with intention to become a place to get a good deal. I remember I saw it somewhere in eBay policies, not exactly this phrase but the meaning is the same. Buyers looking for a great deal, sellers looking to make a profit. It's an unfavorable situation for sellers. I admit it's hard to sell on Ebay. That's why some sellers cheat or use tricks such as one described above. However, from my opinion, Ebay has a good protection for buyers, they are even more protected than sellers. Or may be I think so because I am a seller : ) Buyers can return items if they don't like it. Like many other eBay policies this is open for abuse. I had some cases when buyers tried to return used or damaged items. I can talk about eBay a lot but it's getting too long. It you are curious here is my store at eBay http://stores.ebay.com/Gem-Fashion-Jewelry This is not advertising : ) There are some cute items there.

I agree that you do have to use common sense when buying on eBay, but I also believe that sellers need be completely honest and not misleading - as I'm sure you are with your store. I also sell on eBay, and I try to describe everything in detail - including flaws or any information that helps the buyer understand what is really being sold.

I have to say though, that CZ is *not* a diamond. A "simulant" is something that is used to look like something else - something that is similar to something else. On the other hand, a "synthetic" or "lab-created" gemstone is one that really is the gemstone, but is made in a lab and not in nature.

Most CZ on the market is synthetic CZ, because it is made in a lab. But - it does not have the same chemical properties as a diamond, so it is not correct to call it a diamond.

I'll be talking more about jewelry on eBay in my article this week. Thanks again for bringing up this interesting issue. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Chris